The objective of this thesis is to describe the role of productivity in the economic development states of EU. Work is also trying to discover what factors have an impact on productivity. In this work was evaluated labor productivity, capital producitvity and total factor producitivty. The thesis contains models that consider human capital. It is also used linear regression and dynamic parameters.

Esse trabalho tem como objetivo contribuir para a literatura empírica dos retornos do P&D no Brasil, em particular, dos incentivos fiscais da Lei do Bem (Lei no 11.196/2005) sobre a sobre a produtividade total dos fatores (PTF) das firmas beneficiárias. Para isso, desenvolvemos nosso trabalho em torno de dois objetivos específicos: o primeiro é verificar o impacto do incentivo fiscal sobre os esforços em P&D das firmas beneficiárias por meio do teste de adicionalidade. O segundo é estimar a elasticidade da PTF com relação ao P&D e o impacto do tratamento da Lei do Bem sobre essa elasticidade. Por fim, analisamos o impacto indireto da Lei do Bem sobre a PTF que ocorre por meio do aumento dos dispêndios em P&D. Essa avaliação foi conduzida a partir de estimações de modelos econométricos com microdados de firmas industriais brasileiras para o período de 2003 a 2013, aplicando o procedimento de Propensity Score Matching (PSM) associado a estimações de Efeitos Fixos e de Blundell e Bond (1998). Entre os resultados encontrados, verificamos que apenas as estimações para o período de 2006 a 2009 ultrapassaram o limite superior da renúncia fiscal, o que significa que uma parte do aumento verificado para o período de 2010 a 2013 deva ter ocorrido como substituição do gasto público, evidenciando, pelo menos parcialmente, o efeito de crowding out. Os resultados da segunda etapa do trabalho sugerem que a lei tem efeitos indiretos positivos sobre a produtividade das firmas, mas, apesar disso, a elasticidade da PTF se encontra abaixo da mediana dos estudos internacionais / The objective of this dissertation is to contribute to the empirical literature on returns to R&D in Brazil, in particular, the tax incentives of Lei do Bem (Lei no 11.196/2005) on the total factor productivity (TFP) of the beneficiary firms. In order to do this, we have organized this study around two specific objectives: the first is to verify the impact of the tax incentive on the R&D efforts of the beneficiary firms through the additionality test. The second is to estimate the elasticity of TFP with respect to R&D and the impact of the treatment of the Lei do Bem on this elasticity. Finally, we analyze the indirect impact of the Lei do Bem on TFP that occurs through the increase in expenditures in R&D. This evaluation was carried out based on estimations of econometric models with microdata from Brazilian industrial firms for the period 2003 to 2013, applying the procedure of Propensity Score Matching (PSM) associated with estimates of Fixed Effects, and Blundell and Bond (1998). Among the results, we found that only the estimates for the period from 2006 to 2009 exceeded the upper limit of the tax waiver, which means that part of the increase observed for the period from 2010 to 2013 must have occurred as a substitution of public expenditure, evidencing, at least partially, the crowding-out effect. The results of the second stage of the study suggest that the law has positive indirect effects on firm productivity, but nonetheless, the elasticity of TFP is below the median of international studies.

A partir des années quatre-vingt, la manière d’appréhender les investissements directs étrangers (IDE) a basculé. Les firmes multinationales (FMN) sont perçues progressivement comme les acteurs centraux du processus de globalisation. Une littérature abondante commence à émerger et décrit le rôle des IDE comme composante non négligeable dans la stratégie de développement industriel d’un pays. Comprendre par quels mécanismes les IDE interviennent dans la dynamique industrielle d’une économie signifie qu’ils sont susceptibles de générer des retombées positives, autrement dit des spillovers sur celle-ci. Etudier l’impact des IDE sur la dynamique industrielle d’une économie en transition, telle que la République tchèque devient donc une question pertinente. L’objectif de notre travail est de comprendre l’impact des IDE sur les économies en transition à travers l’étude de la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF) et des spillovers (autrement dit des externalités positives). Les questions sous-jacentes sont les suivantes : les IDE induisent-ils un effet d’entraînement ou un effet d’éviction de l’investissement local? Quel est l’impact des IDE sur la productivité du pays d’accueil ? Observe-t-on des spillovers en matière de transfert de technologie vers les entreprises locales ? Précisons toutefois que la littérature théorique et empirique est très riche. Se concentrer uniquement sur la PTF et sur les spillovers comme nous le faisons ne permet pas de conclure précisément sur l’impact des IDE ; il existe, en effet un grand nombre d’impacts que nous ne traitons pas. Nous arrivons toutefois à étudier l’impact des IDE sur la structure industrielle de la République tchèque à travers l’analyse de la PTF et des spillovers. Nos résultats nous permettent aussi de réfléchir aux implications en termes de politiques incitatives à l’égard des IDE ainsi qu’en termes de déterminants incitant les FMN à investir. Nous essayons enfin de comprendre de quelle manière la République tchèque peut décider de politiques publiques visant à rendre ses entreprises plus compétitives face aux FMN. / Since the 1980s, the approach to foreign direct investment (FDI) has changed. Multinational companies (MNCs) are viewed incrementally as the central actors of the globalization process. Extensive literature is emerging, which describes FDI as a significant component of a country’s industrial development strategy. The understanding of the mechanisms by which FDI intervene in industrial dynamics of an economy has shown that they are likely to generate benefits, in other words, spillovers. Studying the impact of FDI on industrial dynamics of a transition economy, such as the Czech Republic, thus becomes a relevant issue. The aim of our work is to understand the impact of FDI on transition economies through investigating total factor productivity (TFP) and spillovers (i.e. positive externalities). The underlying questions are: Do FDI cause a knock-on effect or crowding out of local investment? What is the impact of FDI on the productivity of the host country? Are spillovers observed in terms of technology transfer to local businesses? Herein we carefully investigated the impacts of FDI on the industrial structure of the Czech Republic through the analysis of TFP and spillovers. Although extensive theoretical and empirical literature exists; focusing exclusively on TFP and spillovers does not allow direct conclusion on the impact of FDY, since different other factors were not examined. Nevertheless, our results also enable to deliberate on the implications of incentive policies towards FDI and determinants encouraging MNCs to invest. Eventually, we evaluate how the Czech Republic may set public policies to make its companies more competitive against FMN.

This thesis consists of four self-contained papers on job turnover, productivity and state- local finance. Paper [I] deals with the determinants of the rate of job turnover defined as the change in distribution of employment between and within industries in Swedish manufacturing. The rate of inter-industry job turnover is driven by the dispersion of profit changes among industries. Shifts in international competitiveness among industries seem to play a central role in the explanation of this pattern. The rate of intra-industry job turnover has been higher in industries with many small plants, low profit margins and high import penetration. Paper [II] analyzes the impact of openness on total factor productivity (TFP) growth. Using Swedish industry level data the results show that economically integrated industries tend to be more engaged in research and development (R&D) and have more entry and exit activity than other industries. The domestic R&D intensity does not contribute to the TFP growth rate. Instead, the results imply that openness to international markets, which helps facilitate technology spillovers, has a significant impact on the growth rate. There is also some evidence suggesting that producers exiting the market are less productive, implying that such exits will increase the average productivity of the industry concerned. The purpose of Paper [III] is to design and implement a test of whether the external effect from tax base sharing among local and regional governments is internalized via the intergovernmental transfer system. The test is based on the observation that if the external effect is internalized, an increase in the income tax rate at one level of government will induce the other level to reduce its income tax rate by the corresponding amount, leaving the effective tax rate unchanged. By using panel data for the Swedish local and regional public sectors, we estimate the reaction function for the local income tax rate. The results imply that an increase in the regional income tax rate induces the municipalities in the region to decrease their income tax rates. In addition, we are able to reject the null hypothesis that the external effect from tax base sharing is internalized. Paper [IV] concerns risk-sharing, in terms of how the central government smooths personal income among municipalities via the tax and transfer systems. Using Swedish panel data, the results show that the national tax and transfer systems mitigate an adverse shock to income of one krona so that disposable income falls by 67 öre, on average. However, there are large differences across regions, where the effect on disposable income varies between 32 and 78 öre in the krona. / digitalisering@umu

De flesta myndighetstexter skrivs idag med utgångspunkt i att språket ska vara vårdat, enkelt och begripligt enligt språklagens klarspråksparagraf, men vilken potential finns egentligen i denna typ av språkvård? Klarspråksarbetet på Försäkringskassan är både omfattande och prisbelönt och syftet med denna undersökning är att beskriva förutsättningarna för Försäkringskassans klarspråksintention att komma medborgarna till del i form av begripliga beslutsbrev. För detta syfte har jag i intervjuer och enkäter undersökt språkvårdares, handläggares och potentiella mottagares uppfattningar om språket i beslutsbrev. Min undersökning visar att brevmallar, skrivstöd och utbildning är språkvårdens viktigaste verktyg för att förmedla klarspråkstanken till handläggarna. Brevmallarna verkar fungera effektivt, medan genomslagskraften för skrivstöd och utbildning framstår som mer begränsad. Ett kommunikationsglapp mellan språkvårdare och handläggare verkar ibland dessutom utgöra hinder för förmedlingen av klarspråk, liksom de komplexa klarspråksidealen. Det juridiska innehållet och ofta negativa budskapet i beslutsbreven är utmaningar som ställer höga krav på handläggarna som skribenter och ju mer komplext ärendet är, desto högre blir kraven på handläggarnas språkliga förmåga och desto större blir det individuella avtrycket i brevet. Komplexiteten och brevens känsliga innehåll till trots, är språkvårdarna eniga med handläggarna om att brevmallarna utgör en bra grund att utgå från i skrivandet. Men trots att det i första läget är handläggarna som ska använda mallarna i syfte att verkställa språkvårdens avsikter, är det den slutliga mottagaren av det färdiga brevet som är i fokus vid utformningen av brevmallarna. Handläggarna betraktas alltså inte som primära mottagare av mallarna. Det finns också en enighet om att beslutsbrevet i slutändan måste vara begripligt för mottagaren. Samtidigt har språkvårdare och handläggare olika uppfattningar om vad som främst ska begripliggöras, vilket får effekter på det språkliga uttrycket. Språkvårdarna fokuserar på mottagarperspektivet, medan handläggarna snarare har ett ärendeperspektiv. De skilda utgångspunkterna skapar olika ideal för vad som betraktas som ett tydligt brev. Sammantaget visar undersökningen på dilemman i både förmedlingen och förvaltningen av klarspråksintentionen. Brevmallarna verkar dock tas emot och fungera väl och kanske kan de bli ännu mer effektiva verktyg i klarspråksarbetet om handläggarna inkluderas som mottagare. Därför är det relevant att i framtida forskning närmare undersöka på vilket sätt brevmallarna kan utvecklas för att ytterligare tydliggöra klarspråksintentionen.

The topic of this thesis is base isolation. The purpose of this thesis is to offer a relative understanding of the seismic performance enhancements that a typical 12-story steel office building can achieve through the implementation of base isolation technology. To reach this understanding, the structures of a fixed-base office building and a base-isolated office building of similar size and layout are designed, their seismic performance is compared, and a cost-benefit analysis is completed. The base isolation system that is utilized is composed of Triple Friction Pendulum (TFP) bearings. The work of this thesis is divided into four phases. First, in the building selection phase, the structural systems (SMF and SCBF), layout, location (San Diego, CA), and design parameters of the buildings are selected. Then, in the design phase, each structure is designed using modal response spectrum analysis in ETABS. In the analysis phase, nonlinear time history analyses at DBE and MCE levels are conducted in PERFORM-3D to obtain the related floor accelerations and interstory drifts. Finally, in the performance assessment phase, probable damage costs are computed using fragility curves and FEMA P-58 methodology in PACT. Damage costs are computed for each building and seismic demand level and the results are compared.

This dissertation consists of three essays on the empirical analysis of economic growth and technology development. In particular, I consider spillover effects in different frameworks. The first chapter outlines the three topics involved and briefly discusses the motivations, methods as well as some conclusions in each of the following chapters. The second chapter considers the spillovers in economic growth and convergence. Spillovers are prevalent in nowadays' economy. I formally model the spillover effects as the interdependence of total factor productivity (TFP), and develop a model in which spillover effects of R&D through the channel of international trade make the TFPs correlated among countries. In this sense, I apply the thoughts of international trade to the economic growth framework. Empirically, I develop a three-stage generalized method of moment(GMM) to estimate the dynamic panel spatial error autoregressive model. Simulation results show that my estimator is consistent and efficient. Through counterfactual analysis, I find that there are positive spillovers through both geographic connection and trade connection. Such a positive spillover effect, however, slows down the convergence speed. Moreover, there were little spillovers in the early 1960s. Spillover effects become stronger overtime. The third chapter is about the determinants of technology development in China. What makes my paper different from others is that I take a full consideration of the spillover effects: provincial spillovers in Science and Technology (S&T) capital as well as S&T personnel, and international spillovers through trade and FDI. The most interesting point in my paper is that I consider the indirect effects of institutions on technology development. Marketization, measured by the share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the economy, affects the production of technology through different channels at different stages. I use a semiparametric varying-coefficient model to account for the effects. In this paper, I find that provincial spillovers are mainly through the externalities of S&T capital stock while international spillovers occur through trade. Marketization affects the technology development through S&T capital, S&T capital spillovers and trade. Although a certain share of SOEs is necessary for technology production, the marketization process will promote the development of technology in China in the long run. The fourth chapter looks into the provincial technology spillovers from another aspect. Instead of the S&T endowment spillovers from the nearby provinces, I consider the technology transfer from the frontier province to the targeted province as well as the absorptive capacity of the targeted province itself. Two forms of technology transfer are analyzed: the technology distance due to the structural discrepancy in the patent portfolio and the technology gap because of the difference in the patent level. Through the empirical analysis, several factors contributing to patent growth, such as S&T investment, road density, international spillovers from imports and FDI, are identified. Moreover, I find that technology transfer due to the technology distance can stimulate patent growth. However, I fail to find robust evidence of technology transfer due to the technology gap, which implies that the provincial technology convergence may not exist in China. / Ph. D.

This doctoral thesis consists of three essays. In the first essay I investigate the presence of productivity convergence in eight regional pulp and paper industries of U.S. and Canada over the period of 1971-2005. Expectation of productivity convergence in the pulp and paper industries of Canadian provinces and of the states of its southern neighbour is high since they are trading partners with fairly high level of exchanges in both pulp and paper products. Moreover, they share a common production technology that changed very little over the last century. I supplement the North-American regional data with national data for two Nordic countries, Finland and Sweden, which provides a scope to compare the productivity performances of four leading players in global pulp and paper industry. I find evidence in favour of the catch-up hypothesis among the regional pulp and paper industries of U.S. and Canada in my sample. The growth performance is at the advantage of Canadian provinces relative to their U.S. counterparts. However, it is not good enough to surpass the growth rates of this industry in the two Nordic countries. It is well-known that econometric productivity estimation using flexible functional forms often encounter violations of curvature conditions. However, the productivity literature does not provide any guidance on the selection of appropriate functional forms once they satisfy the theoretical regularity conditions. The second chapter of my thesis provides an empirical evidence that imposing local curvature conditions on the flexible functional forms affect total factor productivity (TFP) estimates in addition to the elasticity estimates. Moreover, I use this as a criterion for evaluating the performances of three widely used locally flexible cost functional forms - the translog (TL), the Generalized Leontief (GL), and the Normalized Quadratic (NQ) - in providing TFP estimates. Results suggest that the NQ model performs better than the other two functional forms in providing TFP estimates. The third essay capitalizes on newly available high frequency energy consumption data from commercial buildings in the District of Columbia (DC) to provide novel insights on the realized energy use impacts of energy efficiency standards in commercial buildings. Combining these data with hourly weather data and information on tenancy contract structure I evaluate the impacts of energy standards, contractual structure of utility bill payments, and energy star labeling on account level electricity consumption. Using this unique panel dataset, the analysis takes advantage of detailed building-level characteristics and the heterogeneity in the building age distribution, resulting in buildings constructed before and after mandatory energy standards came into effect. Estimation results suggest that in commercial buildings constructed under a code, electricity consumption is lower by about 0.48 kWh per cooling degree hour. When tenants pay for their own utilities, consumption is lower by 0.82 kWh per cooling degree hour. The Energy Star effect is a 0.31 kWh reduction per cooling degree hour. Finally, peak savings for all three variables of interest occur at 2pm in the summer months, whereas peak summer marginal prices at DC's local electric utility occur at 5pm.

本文以資料包絡分析法衡量2004年第一季至2008年第三季台灣商業銀行之效率與生產力，並以其代表銀行之經營績效。不同於過去文獻之處在於本文以前瞻之觀點（沈中華，2005）求出放款預期損失以衡量放款風險，作為放款過程中的非意欲產出。本文並利用Ray and Desli（1997）架構拆解Malmquist總要素生產力指數，探討銀行績效變動之來源，此外，亦將該拆解結果與Färe et al.（1994）拆解方式比較，發現在技術變動部分有明顯不同。本文並探討影響銀行效率之因素以及檢定不同類型銀行之生產力表現是否有顯著差異。 / The purpose of this paper is to examine the efficiency and productivity change of Taiwan’s banks over 2004Q1-2008Q3 using data envelopment analysis. Unlike the literature of the past, this paper uses the forward-looking viewpoint to derive expected losses from loans to measure the credit risk. In addition, the loan expected loss is thought of as an undesirable output in the estimation of efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, this paper uses a VRS frontier benchmark (Ray and Desli, 1997) to analyze the sources of productivity change. This paper also compares this result with that of Färe et al.（1994）decomposition, and finds that the estimated technical changes of two approaches are significantly different. Further, this paper analyzes the factors influencing banks’ efficiency, and investigates the productivity differences between different ownerships.

Following Toyota's dramatic rise to prominence within the automotive industry in the late 1980's, firms around the globe have widely sought to adopt Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a means of reducing costs, improving quality, and gaining an overall competitive advantage. While the operational benefits of LSS are largely undisputed, there are criticisms of the movement with regards to its effect on firm innovation capability. Prior academic studies investigating the relationship between LSS and innovation are largely conceptual in nature, rely heavily on qualitative data, and display a high degree of variability in results. The objective of this work was to empirically confirm whether LSS adoption had a positive, negative, or neutral impact on firm innovation performance.Financial data was collected for 151 publicly traded firms over the period from 1985 to 2018. The year of company-wide adoption of LSS was identified for each sample firm. Firms were paired with industry rivals using Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM), and statistical regressions were performed to show correlations between LSS implementation (as measured by inventory turns) and innovation performance (as measured by Total Factor Productivity, Research Quotient, and Tobin's Quotient). Regression results indicated that LSS implementation had a positive correlation with firm process innovation performance and the overall market perception of firm innovation and value, and a negative-to-neutral correlation with firm product innovation performance. Additional regressions performed at the industry-sector level revealed that the LSS-innovation relationship varies greatly by industry environment and is subject to unique industry effects and management implementation decisions.